Luetkemeyer faces big changes in his district starting on Jan. 3

Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer, who represents Callaway County in Congress, is facing some major changes in the areas he will serve starting on Jan. 3.

Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, will continue to serve Callaway County. But under congressional redistricting he is losing many other counties and several new ones will be added.

On Jan. 3 his district will be switched from the 25 counties in the current 9th Congressional District to the 13 counties in his new 3rd Congressional District.

In Central Missouri, Cole County has been added to Luetkemeyer's new 3rd District from U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler's 4th District. Boone County has been moved from Luetkemeyer's district to Hartzler's newly reconfigured 4th District.

Luetkemeyer's new 3rd District no longer stretches to the Iowa border. Instead, it now has a smaller geographical area and it now includes a larger part of the more populous region west of St. Louis.

Because of population losses, the St. Louis region on Jan. 3 will have two instead of three members of Congress.

Missouri's population growth was not as rapid as some other states and that caused Missouri to lose one member of its former nine-member delegation in Congress.

The redistricting process essentially removed one congressional district from the St. Louis area where the state's smallest population growth occurred. It also renumbered the districts from one through eight. This accounts for Luetkemeyer's new district number of three instead of nine.

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.